Extending the boundary of history in Mebane

Monday

Mar 24, 2014 at 12:01 AMMar 24, 2014 at 4:58 PM

Molly McGowan / Times-News

MEBANE — The boundary and historical period of significance of the Old South Mebane Historic District have been extended, making the location one of 10 properties or districts in North Carolina added recently to the National Register of Historic Places.

The 10 properties and locations were actually listed in the National Register of Historic Places in December, after a meeting in October of the National Registry Advisory Committee.

But the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office waits to release information on new listings in a larger group rather than individually, said Jessica Dockery, national register and survey specialist with the State Historic Preservation Office.

Gov. Pat McCrory and the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources announced in a news release the addition of those locations, including Hillside Park High School in Durham, Louise Cotton Mill in Charlotte, and Oakdale Cemetery in Hendersonville.

In Mebane, the Old South Mebane Historic District, located south of the railroad tracks, had already been listed with the National Register of Historic Places. The neighborhood of West McKinley, South Fourth and South Fifth streets had a “period of significance,” or buildings constructed between early 1900 and 1961, Dockery said.

But that original listing in 2011 had left out a few buildings.

“Not long after, we got a call from a resident,” Dockery said.

She said a resident in the historic district asked why a certain qualifying home had been left out of the listing. An earlier construction date of that house was established, making it eligible to be included in, or “contributing” to, the historic district, Dockery said.

“Anything in that period that has sufficient historic integrity … would be considered contributing to the district,” she said.

And any properties contributing to a historic district are eligible for rehabilitation tax credits, Dockery said. Those constructed before or after that district’s period of significance are “noncontributing” and thus not eligible for rehabilitation tax credits.

The State Historic Preservation Office put “a new set of eyes on the ground,” and found that more than just the one building had been left out of the 2011 listing, Dockery said.

“We look at all of the boundar(ies), not just the area that we’re called about,” she said. “We did find some other areas that we thought should be included.”

The boundary increase includes sections of the 400 block of West Lee Street, the 400 block of West McKinley Street, 507 S. Fourth St., and a stretch along South Fifth Street from the 600 to 800 blocks, according to the narrative in the National Register of Historic Places registration form Dockery reviewed.

That boundary increase also meant “an extension of period of significance” for the Old South Mebane Historic District, Dockery said, explaining that now the period of significance is from circa 1900 to 1962.

“It was a tiny period of significance extension, just that one year,” she said.

The Old South Mebane Historic District is one of approximately 64 National Register listings in Alamance County, including individual properties and 13 districts, Dockery said.

Statewide, North Carolina is estimated to have 73,300 National Register properties, according to the news release.